UCF Knights vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 2/4/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UCF Knights vs Houston Cougars

Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: FS1

The Houston Cougars (19-2) will take on the UCF Knights (17-4) at Fertitta Center on Wednesday.

The UCF Knights faced Texas Tech and took home the win by a score of 88-80 in their last contest. When it comes to fouls, the Knights ended up with 11 while Texas Tech totaled 15 fouls. They buried 11 out of their 29 tries from downtown. Texas Tech walked away from this one shooting 58.3% from the charity stripe by burying 7 of 12 attempts. Furthermore, Texas Tech had 22 rebounds (4 offensive, 18 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Texas Tech distributed 19 assists and had 3 steals for this contest. With respect to the defense, UCF allowed the other team to shoot 56.4% from the floor on 31 out of 55 shooting. They also doled out 19 dimes for this game while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 6 steals. With respect to hauling in boards, they compiled a total of 34 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Knights made 18 of their 22 attempts for a rate of 81.8%. UCF walked away from the contest with a 49.2% field goal percentage (32 out of 65) and made 6 of their 13 3-point attempts.

Themus Fulks is a guy who was a factor for this game. He went 39.1% from the floor and earned 7 assists. He played for 34 minutes and also snagged 3 rebounds. He walked away with 21 points on 9 of 23 shooting.

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UCF will take the court with a win-loss mark of 17-4 for the year. They average 84.2 pts per contest (39th in the country) while hitting 48.3% from the field. The Knights are hitting 38.2% on shots from 3-point land (180 of 471) and 73.5% from the free throw line. As a team, UCF is pulling down 38.3 rebounds per game and has accumulated 350 dimes on the season, which ranks 89th in Division 1 in terms of passing. They are turning it over 11.6 times per game and as a team are committing 17.5 fouls every game.

When they are on the defensive end, the Knights are forcing their opponents into 11.9 turnovers every game and they draw 17.6 fouls. They are ranked 197th in Division 1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 303 relinquished for the campaign. The Knights defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 45.2% (561 of 1,242) and they surrender 31.1 boards per contest as a team. They give up 34.0% on 3-point shots and they are 272nd in the nation in points per game from their opponents (77.1).

When they last played, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 76-54 when they faced Cincinnati. The Cougars corralled 16 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 27 for the matchup. They also turned the ball over 4 times, while earning 9 steals in the game. Cincinnati committed 13 fouls for the game which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 18 tries. They were able to convert 15 of the free throw tries for a rate of 83.3%. In the matter of 3-point attempts, Houston made 9 of their 26 attempts (34.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Cougars shot 26 for 57 from the floor which gave them a rate of 45.6%. The Cougars allowed Cincinnati to make 18 out of their 47 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 38.3% in the game. They finished the game shooting 43.5% from distance by shooting 10 out of 23 and ended up going 8 out of 13 at the free throw line (61.5%). Concerning team rebounding, Houston permitted Cincinnati to pull down 29 in total (8 offensive).

Milos Uzan ended up being a factor for the Cougars in this contest. He totaled 16 points in his 32 minutes on the court and had 5 assists for the contest. He converted 7 of 12 in the matchup for a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and totaled 2 rebounds.

Houston has a win-loss mark of 19-2 so far this year. The Cougars are committing 18.0 fouls per game and they go 78.0% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 15.5 times per game (98th in the nation) and they lose possession via turnover 8.4 times per game. Houston has tallied 1,657 pts on the campaign (78.9 per contest) and they pull in 36.8 boards per contest. When it comes to offense, the Cougars are shooting 45.1% from the floor, which is 192nd in the country.

The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 2nd in college hoops in points given up per game with 61.7. They are able to force 15.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 39.7% from the floor (23rd in college hoops). The Houston defense concedes 31.7% on 3-point attempts (148 of 467) and opponents are making 67.9% of their free throw attempts. They have relinquished 11.0 dimes and 33.6 total boards per game, which has them ranked 25th and 126th in the nation.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take UCF

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